Father accused of assaulting 5-week-old girl

EVERETT — The April photo on his social media site shows a smiling young father with a baby cradled in his arms.

A month later, the Everett teen is in the Snohomish County Jail and his five-week-old daughter is at a Seattle Children’s Hospital where she’s being fed through tubes and is on anti-seizure medication.

She suffered a skull fracture, bleeding and swelling in her brain as well as two broken ribs, according to a police report.

An Everett detective wrote that the baby girl will be a long-term rehabilitation patient.

“The prognosis at this time is that she will likely have brain damage and vision impairment,” the detective wrote Wednesday. “The extent of damage is unknown at this time.”

Tyler D. Washington, 18, was arrested Wednesday for investigation of domestic violence first-degree assault of a child. He has not been formally charged, but a judge on Thursday found probable cause to set bail at $150,000.

Everett police spokesman Aaron Snell said the girl’s mother appears not to have known anything about the alleged abuse.

“He is the only suspect based on what has been said and written,” Snell said.

The Everett couple called 911 on Wednesday after the baby seemed lethargic and had trouble breathing. She was taken to Providence Regional Medical Center Everett before being transferred to Children’s.

Doctors became suspicious of the parents’ explanations for how the injuries occurred. They called state Child Protective Services and the Everett Police Department.

Washington initially told authorities that he was holding the girl in a bedroom when she pushed her body up and hit her head against his chin. The mother said she had no idea how her child could have sustained a head injury.

In a follow up interview with a detective, the suspect allegedly admitted to getting angry when the baby was fussy and wouldn’t stop crying.

“He described shaking (her) in vigorous, short, repetitive movements in an attempt to stop her fussiness,” the detective wrote. “He described shaking her once or twice a week since she was two weeks old.”

Washington allegedly said the baby began having problems after he shook her Wednesday.

“He also admitted to squeezing her forceful enough to break her ribs,” the detective wrote. “(He) said the impact to her head occurred when he inadvertently slammed the back of her head against the wall earlier in the week.”